A Look Into A Dark Past
by ShadabelNerdPerson
Summary: Something's driving Annabel to the brink of ending her life. Now it's up to a certain ebony hedgehog to find out what's wrong. It's a simple task, but how would he react to her family's dark past? ShadowxOC. Don't like, don't read. First fanfic. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Sorry for the crappy summary. Maybe making chapters. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

/ Yo! I was feeling really depressed when I wrote this and going through family troubles. So, I decided to write this in order to possible let some feelings out so I can get over it. Annabel, Mellisia, Nightfall, Jason, Blake, Zak, Will, and Caty are MINE! Everyone else belongs to SEGA. Don't be afraid to suggest whether or not I should do chapters. :) /

*thunk* Another knife was driven into the wall in frustration. A light brown hedgie with dark brown hair and icy-blue eyes glared at the wall across from her as she sat on her bed. Since a few weeks ago, on Christmas day on all days, she was in a lousy mood. Every time someone asked her what was wrong, she'd just shake her head and tell them not to worry. It seemed with every day that passed, she got worse. Soon, she was in her room 24/7, either drawing, writing, or laying down with headphones on. Nothing more and nothing less. Soon this concerned Sonic and the others, questioning if she really was okay. The only one who didn't seem to care was Shadow. He never talked much and never seemed to care about anything. The hedgehog girl, of whom her friends call Annabel, soon roughly jerked the knife out of the slightly-damaged wall and walked back to her bed to throw it again. There was a knock on the door and Silver's head popped in.

"Hey, Annabel," he greeted, "Can I talk to you for a second. It's kinda urgent."

"I dunno. Can you?" she replied blandly and threw her knife at the wall again. *thunk*

Silver walked in and sat down on Annabel's bed, watching her retrieve her knife and come back again. His yellow eyes reflected his emotions like a mirror, so Annabel knew what was coming. She sat down next to the albino hedgie, cleaning her knife although it was already spotless.

"I know that you say you're okay when people ask you," he started, lightly tugging on the cuff of his right glove nervously. "But we're starting to worry about you. You haven't come out of your room a lot and the only times you do is either when we're going someplace or when there's food on the table, but you don't seem to eat much. Are you sure you're okay?"

The light brown hedgie was quiet for a while, then sighed. "Yes, Silver. I'm absolutely okay. Just a little sad, that's all."

"Sad about what?" the albino hedgehog asked, looking at her.

"Stuff. But it'll pass. Just stop worrying about it." Annabel responded, looking into her reflection in the knife.

Silver put a finger under the hedgie's chin and gently lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Annabel, you know just as well as I do that isn't true. Something's bugging you and you're keeping it to yourself. Please tell me what it is. II won't tell the others if you don't want them to know, but seeing you like this worries me."

She gave him a look. "Silver, I'm fine. It's just that something came up and it put me in a really stressed state. There's no need to worry about me anymore. I just need time to myself and recollect myself. I'm not saying I don't need your help; I'm flattered that you guys care about my well-being and want to help me. It's just something I need to get over on my own."

Silver looked at the light brown hedgehog for a while, then sighed in defeat. "Alright alright, we'll give you space for a couple more days. If your condition doesn't change by that time, we're not gonna stop until you tell us the truth." He hugs her tightly, then he got up and gave her a worried look before leaving the room.

Annabel sighed and decided to get dressed in a slim-fitting orange turtleneck and white boot cut jeans with brown high-heeled boots, silver loop earrings, and a gold jeweled locket necklace her brother, Blade, gave her when she was little. She went into her private bathroom to tidy up and when she got out, she looked like she was dressed to impress. Her hair was tied up in the back, but her bangs covered her right eye still. When she walked down, Sonic whistled to her.

"Damn girl. Thought I'd never see that beautiful face again. How you feeling?" the cobalt hedgie flirted, giving her a quick wink.

"Fine. Just going out for a while." Annabel replied, swiping a little bit of orange-flavored lip gloss on her bottom lip.

" You look like you're going out alright. On a date," he remarked, smiling cockily. "I hope I'll be that date."

"I'm not going on a damn date. I just need time outside for a while. I'll be back sometime later," she retorted, becoming irritated with the blue blur's flirting.

With that, she slipped on her white sweatshirt and vest and walked out into the snow. Everyone seemed kind of convinced except for one person, who was reading the newspaper as usual. Shadow looked up from his reading and decided to investigate for himself. He got up and went upstairs to the hedgie girl's room, locking the door behind him.

'Alright. She never said when she'll be back, so I'll have approximately have forty five minutes to find out what exactly is bothering her. Knowing how spotless Annabel's room looks, this is gonna be easy.' he thought to himself as he started to silently look around for anything that could have lead to depression. After half an hour of searching, Shadow sighed irritantly.

'Dammit,' he thought. 'What could possibly be causing Annabel so much pain?'

He was about to leave the room until he heard one of his theme songs playing. It was her Verizon Wireless smartphone, lying on the surface of Annabel's black desk. The ebony hedgehog stared at it for a while, then slowly walked over to it. The music then abruptly stopped and a window appeared, reading "MISSED CALL" and someone named Nightfall. Not paying attention to what he was doing, he accidentally knocked a folded up piece of paper off it. Shadow bent over to pick it up, but realized there was writing on it. Curious, he picked it up and read it aloud.

"'Annabel, I know that you think that I'm a bad guy and that your step mother says stuff about me behind my back. It's not your fault that she and I fight all the time. I'm writing to you to tell you my side of the situation. You see, she likes to go out and see the world while I just want to stay conservative. One night, she went out with a couple of her friends and didn't come back until much later. Then one of my friends told me they saw her making out with this one guy named Zak, who was about ten years younger than her. Upset and hurt, I confronted her and she said that it didn't happen. I partially believed her until she started hanging out with more of her friends, a couple were guys. The same incident happened a few months later, but with a guy named Will. After that, I just couldn't trust her and we had to split. Later on, I started exercising more often and became friends with Caty. Her and I are just friends. We never did any inappropriate crap like Mellisia might have told you. I love both you and your stepbrother, Blake, very much and I promise things will get better. From, Jason.'" Shadow was quiet for a while, "Who the hell is Jason? What did this Mellisia person say about him? Who's Caty?"

The Ultimate Lifeform sighed and placed the letter back on the hedgie girl's desk, then searched through her phone. He scrolled through images of her and her friends and found one of him, sleeping on the couch. Shadow couldn't help but smirk a little and looked through her memos. There weren't much, but one that read, "Dear everyone, I'm sorry for-" caught his attention. He tapped on the mysterious message and read it in his head.

'"Dear everyone, I'm sorry for not being of much use and for always getting in the way. I'm just tired of having to decide who I should believe and I just want to go away. Don't think it's your fault cause it wasn't. It was mostly mine. Not because of the "thing" between Mellisia and Jason, but because of developing an anti-social and unreasonable depression. I've always kept my thoughts bottled up inside me and never let you see the true me. Ever since my brother died at a young, I just didn't care for my welfare or my future. I wanted to have him with me again and have everything more enjoyable. Look how that turned out. If you don't hear from me for more than half an hour, just know that I care for every single one of you and I would have done anything for you guys. Take care of Sarina, Sashii, and Nori for me. And farewell, my friends. -Annabel the Hedgehog-"'

Realization hit Shadow like a freight train as the phone hit the ground. 'Oh god. Oh god please no. I won't lose another friend.' His usually-still hands quaked as he ran downstairs, his tan muzzle now pale. Amy saw the ebony hedgehog's face and asked, "Shadow? You feeling alright?"

He didn't even glance at the fuchsia hedgie as he quickly put on his coat and ran outside. Snow immediately whipped at Shadow's face as he trudged forward, searching for any signs of Annabel. Thoughts of possible futures of the hedgehog girl's death raced through his head as he looked around in the blizzard.

"Anna!" Shadow called, looked all around him, "Anna, where are you? I need to speak with you!"

The howling wind responded him, but not the hedgie girl. The Ultimate Lifeform felt his heart beat faster as he started running blindly through the merciless snow storm. He never felt this way since the time of Maria's death, which aroused his fear more. Could she be already dead from the blizzard? Could she have been running on a frozen lake and fell through weak ice? Would he ever be able to see Annabel smile happily again? He shook his head and searched more for the hedgie girl. He couldn't give up on her. Not yet. Not when he discovered her plan of suicidal proportions.

Finally, just when he began to lose hope, he found something in the distance. It was a slightly dark figure, very slowly fading into the storm. Shadow suddenly broke into a run, his heart beating a hundred miles an hour. He called out Annabel's name again and again, each time getting louder and louder. Then the figure stopped and turned to the ebony hedgie. He took that opportunity to skate towards it at full speed. The hedgehog girl hadn't removed her sweatshirt or vest, but she looked dead. Her eyes were lifeless and she staggered with every step she took. Finally, just when Shadow was about to pull her into a hug, Annabel fell into his arms, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. The Ultimate Lifeform never felt so relieved and scared in his life. The ebony hedgehog picked her up bridal-style and chaos-controlled back to Rouge's house, freezing and exhausted.

The albino jewel thief gasped as she saw Shadow trudge in the house, shivering and carrying Annabel in his arms. "Shadow!" she cried, running to him.

The Ultimate Lifeform didn't reply as he climbed upstairs into his room. Setting the unconscious hedgie girl on his bed, Shadow put a couple more blankets on her, lightly felt her face, and checked to see if she was alright. She was ice-cold, but she was breathing easily and with a large bloody spot on her forehead. He bandaged her wound pretty good, trying not to wake Annabel, and gazed at her for a while.

'Why would anyone as nice and lovely as Annabel want to end their lives...? Why would anyone consider her as useless or a waste of space? Why do I feel so concerned for her?' He questioned, slightly smiling at the hedgie girl's peaceful state.

After a moment, he leaned forward and lightly nudged his nose on Annabel's. He then got up and decided to look through her phone more. As the ebony hedgie scrolled through her memos again, he accidentally tapped on one. Oddly, to the Ultimate Lifeform, it was not a note to herself nor a note for her parents. It was a small paragraph that made Shadow blush a light pink.

"'I think I love Shadow. I'm not sure how or why, but there's something about him that attracts me to him. Is it because of his ruby eyes or blood-red streaks? His voice? Whatever it is, I hope someday he'll notice me.'" he read, blushing a little more.

Shadow's mouth twitched into a smile as he looked from the phone to the sleeping hedgie girl. His heart beating faster, he gets up and sits next to her, placing his hand on her slender one. With little hesitation, he gently pressed his lips against Annabel's forehead, then laid down next to her and slept. A wide grin was on his face he fell into a deep sleep.

'Anna, I don't know what's going on with your family now, other than the divorce, and I might not know how you completely feel about it. But no matter what happens, I will always be there to support you. I don't care how many bad things have happened to you or why they happened. I only care about your safety and I would do anything for you in return. Although I may never have the courage to tell you this myself, I think I love you too.'

Before long, Shadow lightly kissed Annabel's forehead and went downstairs to sleep on the couch. Even as he quickly drifted to sleep, a small grin was visible on the ebony hedgehog's tan muzzle.

/ Yeah. My writing isn't the greatest, but hey. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. /


	2. Chapter 2

/ Hey, guys! Here's a second chapter. But first, I'd like to briefly thank SkySterling for giving me feedback on the first chapter and how I could make the next few chapters better. Hopefully, this chapter gives a more clearer picture of what's going on and, as always, I hope you like it! :) /

Thoughts of death swirled around in Annabel's head as she slept. How exactly would she end her life? Was it really the only option to get away from everything she regretted? Questions pounded into her head so much, she felt her brain begin to pulse painfully. At last, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a room dark as night, filled with weaponry and G.U.N armor. Annabel was in Shadow's room, she knew that within a heartbeat, but why? The hedgehog girl tried to get up, but instantly sensed a slow ache throughout her body. She stifled a groan as she laid herself back down on the bed.

'Why the hell to I ache so much?' she wondered, 'How did I get here? Why am I here?'

After a while, she attempts to get up again, but much more slowly. After standing for a few minutes, she tries to walk, only to end up falling head-over-heels into someone's arms. Her face immediately heated up in embarrassment and she quickly pulls herself up, stuttering an apology. Instead of receiving an answer, like she expected, she was set back onto the bed, her hands pinned down onto the sheets.

"What the-?" the hedgie girl remarked before a gloved hand gently covered her mouth. Her muzzle quickly turned a bright red, similar to the inside of a plum. Her body completely useless in her situation, Annabel lifted her eyes to meet blood-red orbs of her secret crush, Shadow the Hedgehog.

"You have some explaining to do, girlie," he said, his voice calm and oddly comforting. "But first: why do you want to die?"

Not wanted to lie to someone she loved anymore, she meekly replied, "I'm no good for anyone, Shadow. All I do is screw things up and disappoint people. I want to do something right for once in my life, but whenever I try to, it either ends in disaster or goes unnoticed. I hate it."

"How exactly do you screw things up? You're practically everone's best friend. All of us think you're the most unique human we have ever known, much less taken care of. Hell, even I get along with you. And I hate almost everyone here." the Ultimate Lifeform retorted.

Annabel lightly giggles, feeling flattered and more embarrassed at the same time. It was nice to hear that people liked her, but she couldn't shake the feeling of being alone. In the past, her family never seemed to care about what she did. Not matter how hard she tried to impress her then-caretakers, Mellisia and Jason, she never seemed notices. Even when she first arrived on Mobius; fighting off Eggman's minions, protecting the chaos emeralds from Mephiles, even risking her life for her friends and people she didn't know. None of her family members, human or mobian, took notice of her or assisted her.

Before anything between the two hedgehogs could become awkward, Shadow decides to change the subject. "What exactly is making you like this? I know that this isn't what people like you normally do, so don't try to hide it."

Annabel shifted uncomfortably underneath the ebony hedgehog. What would he say if she told her everything that went on between her human "parents"? Would he understand? Would he take pity on her and leave her be? Would he, bluntly, just not care? 'Well, I can't hide what I'm going through forever. I might as well tell him.' she decided.

"Well, back before I met you and the others, I was living with Mellisia and Jason on Earth," she explained, looking at Shadow's chest fluff and focusing on that other than her memories. "I don't know exactly how to explain how I feel, but a few months, they split up. Mellisia often told me that Jason was into another girl and not her. She said things like 'He's been hanging out with her more than his own wife' and 'He's been acting more immature and more distant from me'. For weeks, her opinions on him made me feel like he was the one who started all this conflict. Then, after a while of staying here, getting to know you guys, I got a letter from him, saying-"

"I know," the Ultimate Lifeform interrupted. "But why exactly do you want to leave everyone behind? What makes you think that you're not good enough for anyone?"

"All the powers I have are healing and telekinesis. How am I good enough when I can't even protect myself against harm?" Annabel answered, sounding a little frustrated.

"But you can use anything as a weapon. Knives, guns, swords, whatever is lying around, you find some way of using them as a weapon or a defense mechanism," Shadow objected calmly. "As for healing, it's an extremely useful power. For instance: if Mephiles were to appear here and beat the living shit out of me until I couldn't even breathe, I'd be good as dead. With you here, you could prevent my death. Maybe develop a new power, if you're lucky."

"What if, in that situation, you were taken someplace far away from here and then got beaten? How would I save you then? How would I be able to protect anyone in that situation?" Annabel asked.

The ebony hedgehog sighed. Convincing Annabel that she was useful was going to be more difficult than he thought. "That's the problem: You always underestimate yourself and your capabilities. You overthink things. Just don't think about what you can't do and think about what you can."

"I _do_ think about what I'm capable of doing! I don't understand why my family doesn't notice me whenever I do something out-of-the-ordinary." Annabel stopped, immediately regretting what she just said.

The Ultimate Lifeform frowned, confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well," the hedgehog girl started, then immediately stopped. How was she going to explain it without her past coming back to her? She didn't want to remember what happened back then. It only made her feel like a monster and a murderer. On the other hand, Shadow's been through some harsh stuff too; losing his close friend, Maria, and his creator, Professor Gerald. But he didn't physically kill them. A large lump formed on the inside of Annabel's throat, remembering why she had no original family.

"Well what?" the black blur asked, the feeling of unknowing gnawing him from the inside out.

There wasn't any other way of describing why she felt this way. Annabel was sure that if she admitted what her past was, there was no way that she wouldn't feel horrible afterward. Maybe even crying, which she vowed never to do again. Shadow was her closest friend and her crush; how long was she going to hide it from him? The hedgehog girl bit her lip a little and her ears folded back. She knew that now was the time to let Shadow know the real her, but what would he say? What would he do? Would he send her back to Earth? Would he let her stay and comfort her? Would he send her to jail for what she did?

"Shadow," Annabel's voice cracked a little as she spoke, "I need to show you something. I'm not sure if you'll like it or if you'll understand, but I have to show you why I don't have any real parents."

The Ultimate Lifeform cocked his head to the side. "Alright. What is it?"

Shakily, the hedgehog girl put a hand on her muzzle, then closed her eyes, not daring to look at Shadow. Then, with a quick flick of her wrist, she pulled it off and set it next to her. Beneath it was the same color as her regular fur: light brown. Annabel opened her eyes again, determined to tell her secret love everything. "I'm not as innocent as you think I am."

The black blur frowned again. Not because of the muzzle-change; he already knew the tan muzzle was fake from the start. But how was the hedgehog girl guilty of anything? What was she hiding from him? "I don't understand. What could you have possibly done?"

With a deep breath, she admitted, "I'm a murderer. I killed my creators."

/ I'm giving Annabel's life story it's own chapter, it's so freaking long. It's okay if you want to skip it to the fourth chapter, but it would most-likely make more sense if you read about what Annabel's past was. But that's up to you; not me. /


	3. Chapter 3

/ Annabel's life story. :P There isn't much I can say about it. Annabel, Blade, Mellisia, King Darius, Queen Melodie, Nightfall, Jason, Sephia, Dan, Sera, and Caty are mine. Others belong to SEGA. Enjoy! /

"Originally, I was supposed to be a weapon used to fight off my brother Hatred and his army. My step-parents, King Darius and Queen Melodie, were friends with my creators and they were struggling keeping my brother away from the kingdom. My "parents" weren't the same species. My so-called 'father' was a human and my so-called 'mother' was a mobian. They decided to create me with their DNA and, hopefully, I would inherit their powers, combined with their most powerful keepsake. The royal crystal, or Aphrodonitum, was used as my life source and where my powers were going to be formed. For two years, they cared for me and helped me develop. I was never allowed outside because they were afraid that someone would get a hold of me and use me against the royal family.

"One day, when I was learning how to talk, grab things, and walk, a group of soldiers burst through the front door and separated me from my creators. I had no idea what was going on until a woman named Sephia came in and kneeled to me. She told me that her men were setting up a game for me to play. She, then, handed me a gun and told me to shoot the people in front of me. I was never taught anything about weapons or death, so I thought it wouldn't matter. I looked at my creators, who looked scared, and then pulled the trigger on my "father", Dan. Then to my "mother", Sera.

"When they both fell to the ground, I looked to Sephia and asked what happened to them. She only answered that I did their job for them. Then, they took me away and left me in the woods to die alone. I didn't know what else to do, so I wandered around, scared and helpless. After a few hours, a boy found me. He was a dark green hedgehog with dark gray eyes and messy quills. He asked me what my name was and I replied that I didn't have one. I asked him for his name and he said that his name was Blade."

Saying the name, Annabel felt tears sting her eyes. She didn't want to continue and be reminded of all the death she caused, but she wanted someone else to know. So far, Shadow didn't seem to react at all. He had a blank look on his face, but she could see the gears turning in his head, contemplating what she was saying. The hedgehog girl decides to continue, despite all of her doubts nagging at her.

"Blade, then, held my hand and lead me to a large castle. He explained that his parents were King Darius and Queen Melodie and that they would take care of me. After I was introduced to them and a couple of their maids and butlers, their daughter, Nightfall, started harassing me. She said that I didn't look like them and that I should have been left outside. Blade always stood up for me whenever no one was around and I was always with him. No matter what. I just turned three and he gave me a gold locket necklace with jewels embedded in the locket. He told be that it didn't matter where I was or how far away we were; as long as I had the necklace, he would always remain by my side spiritually.

"After a while, Blade and I decided to play hide-and-seek in the woods. Back then, the king and queen warned us that there was a major war going on outside and ordered us never to leave castle grounds. We listened to them, but somehow, someone snuck in and shot Blade in the neck with a poison dart. As he fell to the ground, I screamed bloody murder and ran to him, tears streaming down my face. Blade told me that everything was going to be okay and that he was going someplace better. He was only five when he died. I held him close to me until two guards pulled me off of him and into a large capsule. I banged on the glass, screaming and begging to let me out until this gas filled the inside and I fell into a deep sleep.

"I don't recall how long I was asleep, but I woke up in an oversized bed. Not knowing where I was, I got up to look around, but was forced down by a young woman with brown hair and dark green eyes. She said her name was Mellisia and that she and Jason, her then-husband, were going to take good care of me. I looked about fifteen years of age when my guardians started bickering uncontrollably.

"As they bickered more and more, I felt as if they were ignoring me. So I tried harder and harder to get their attention. I've tried everything, Shadow. I've went through high school and college. I even got a job at the hospital, hoping Mellisia and Jason would say something. _Anything._ But they never did. Soon, I started thinking that I just wasn't that important to them. That's how come I was so willing to risk my life for my friends. That's why I'm so willing to help you guys when you're fighting Eggman and Mephiles. I just want to be noticed and useful to someone."

/ And that's Annabel's life story. So, to clear things up, when Annabel was transported to Earth, she basically morphed into a human girl. I'm thinking or writing another fanfic for when she first meets Sonic and the others to make things more understandable. :P Sorry it took so long to upload. I was busy with some stuff. /


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